CHINA FACTOIDSDid you know that...

The 2018 Winter Olympics kicked off in Pyeongchang, a county in northeast South Korea, on Friday, with 2,920 contestants from 92 nations and regions set to take part.

As the largest since 1924, the Pyeongchang Games amazed viewers by using thousands of glittering drones to form the Olympic rings and light up the night sky during the opening ceremony.

Ice and snow sport lovers from China, who are now enjoying the Chinese New Year holiday, can watch the two-week sporting feast without having to contend with any sort of time difference.

Let's hear what they have to say about the games, the events, the athletes and other hot issues on China's major social media platforms, including Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, and Zhihu, a Q&A website.

Breakthrough of the Chinese delegation

Naturally, most Chinese viewers have been focusing on what the 82 Chinese athletes will encounter and achieve throughout the games, with short track speed skating and curling among the most talked-about events.

As of Sunday, China had won the women's 3,000m relay short track speed skating preliminary, breaking the world record in the process, but all three medal prospects had dropped out of the men's 1,500m short track speed skating competition at the semi-final stage.

@senlinbuke: (The women's team) has broken the world record which was created by the South Korean team just ten minutes before! I was really thrilled when watching it happen.

@yizhizhegenichenkeyiyong: In addition to the factors like being knocked down and designated to one same team, the three Chinese male athletes indeed are lagging behind in overall strength. Keep fighting. There still is a long way to go.

@sencangjushi: The events that China can fight for gold include 500-metre women's/men's single short track speed tracking, 5,000-metre men's short track speed tracking relay and the figure skating pairs. Let's see whether there will be something unexpected.

@wodepiaoxianshenga: When watching the curling mixed doubles (Wang Rui and Ba Ruide) between China and Norway, my sister and I literally laughed ourselves to death as the Chinese pair always adopted the same posture every time they were off the ice.

@fairybrave: Hahaha, yes they do. And the two spank each other's backsides every time they finished a good hit. How adorable is that!

Waiting to watch Yuzuru Hanyu

A number of Chinese netizens have voiced support for 23-year-old Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu, who has broken the world record 12 times and is the first skater from Asia to win multiple World Championships.

@Yuzurink: My first reaction when checking the single men's figure skating time table is Yuzuru Hanyu.

@sujuyaoxingfu: I want China to win gold in figure skating, but Yuzuru Hanyu is just too good.

@skmVictoria: If it was not the Olympics, I would cry out loud fighting for him.

@owenmiaomiaomiao: Yuzuru Hanyu will play on February 16 and 17, which are the first and second days of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

@yackey: I will follow the Winter Games, because I want to watch my Yuzuru Hanyu.

@yuzuwangzhe: He is really, really good. He has broken all of his own world records. He seems to have broken a total of 13 world records.

@chuanzizhishangmofadai: 'Amazing' is not enough to describe him. I happened to watch one of his games. Natural, artistic and godlike. Jin Boyang (Chinese rival), you really need to fight hard.

Olympic diplomacy? Ping Pong diplomacy?

Perhaps one of the most notable events of the Pyeongchang games so far was the appearance of Team Korea, made up of North and South Korean delegates, at the opening ceremony. This has ignited a great deal of discussion among netizens.

@Spontaneous: Although the trend of the Korean Peninsula situation remains blurry, I was deeply touched when watching the Winter Olympics. North and South Korea jointly held a peninsular flag and have a united women's ice hockey team. If they win, the Korean folk song Arirang will be played. I actually want to hear the song in the Olympics stadium. Politics is politics while the people yearn for peace.

@wuyitang: The biggest news of Saturday may be that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has invited Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, to Pyongyang. Kim must be very confident of carrying out bilateral peace talks as he has sent his own sister to conduct the invitation during the games. Kim is conducting Olympic Diplomacy, following Mao Zedong's "Ping Pong Diplomacy".

@yu'an: The US, South Korea and North Korea all need a stop-gap. Now they are smiling while later they will fight more severely.

Beijing's 'eight-minute' show

As the host city of the next Winter Olympics in 2022, Beijing will present an eight-minute handover show at the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Games. Some netizens have been voicing their concerns as to the original themes that could be presented.

@F2022: I think that it will be completely lagging behind the times if China continues to showcase its traditional culture after watching the Tokyo eight-minute. However, modern China's contribution to the world in terms of culture equals nearly zero - except for some natural heritage like giant pandas. What can the country present?

@weichenghushang: The Beijing eight-minute at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics have both demonstrated China's traditional culture. But personally, I think it is also elegant to show modern demeanour.

@dudanairong: It is said that [Chinese movie] director Zhang Yimou has been preparing for the project for more than a year. According to his interview, the eight-minute invitation will focus on showing modern China and conveying a warm welcome in a high-tech way.

Chi Dehua
has been a staff editor at GBTIMES since 2013. She covers foreign affairs, business and culture.